I would love to see if I could take a Maxima 3.5 top end, I heard that they are a beast up top even in stock form with automatics.[/QUOTE]

you can take it. itll give ya a good run, but unless youre a sucky driver, youll win. i ve run against a few without it ever bein closer then a car length. i went up agains a 3.5 SE R altima, only beat it by a hood, those things look pretty sweet. not sure what exactly it has different then a reagular 3.5 as far as performance, but its pretty fast.